The Leaving Cert has drawn with five exams on the final day, including Italian, Japanese, technology, religious education and applied maths.

The biggest exam of the day was applied maths, which was taken by 1,716 boys and 516 girls. Christy Maginn, a teacher at St Declan’s in Cabra, Dublin 7, said that the higher level paper was a fair and honest assessment with no unusual questions. “The opening question, on linear acceleration, was familiar to most students and they were happy with it.”

Both Mr Maginn and Hilary Dorgan, a teacher at the Institute of Education in Dublin, said that several questions had an unusual or unexpected twist which would have been quite challenging. Ms Dorgan added that the paper is quite difficult to complete in the allocated time.

The ordinary level applied maths paper was well designed and would not have caused major difficulties, said Mr Maginn.

In the morning some 1,400 students took on the technology paper. Seamus Walshe, a teacher at Presentation College in Askeam, Co Carlow, said that the higher level paper was more demanding than in previous years, with a number of questions on new technologies including 3D scanning and infrared technologies. The ordinary level paper featured music streaming and drones and was very approachable, he said.

Just 523 students sat the Italian paper. Robbie Cronin of Marian College in Ballsbridge, Dublin, said that it was a very good paper with an interesting question about a teenage girl who has no friends and difficult parents. An opinion piece about learning languages was "very interesting" and a formal letter of complaint was "a practical and laudable exercise."

Religious education was the final exam of this year’s Leaving Cert. Michael Purcell, a teacher at Colaiste Einde in Salthill, Co Galway, said that the higher level paper was a nice note for candidates to finish their leaving cert on.

He said that the first section of the exam paper offered students a nice set of questions, while the second part required more specific answers. Questions on issues of justice and peace and the Irish experience of religion were particularly attractive choices.

Less than 340 students sat the morning’s Japanese exam; no spokesperson was available.

Try this at home: Leaving Cert religion, higher level

Examine the changing pattern of religious belief in Europe today, making reference to the influence of secularisation and secularism.

Outline one example of either local or national archaeological evidence of religious belief and practice in Pre-Christian Ireland.

Tweets of the day

This Brexit vote kinda like leaving cert mocks. It will help us prepare for the real horror of trump becoming president in November - Darragh Clifford @darraghclifford

Leaving Cert Exam 2066: What was the 2016 Brexit and what effect did it have on Ireland. Explore and discuss

- Lindsay Shorten @Corkeana

Funny how this #Brexit will probably have a bigger impact on my future than the leaving cert applied maths exam I’m doing later

- Christopher Mahady @ChrisMahady

Number:

56,595: The total number of students who have now finished their leaving cert